Even today, there's not that much Yamato merch out there, aside from models and figurines. (I have an unassembled Yamato model in its box in my basement, mocking me.) I was mildly surprised, for example, that I couldn't easily find anyone producing a t-shirt of the show's arrow uniform, the kind that an astronaut recently wore into space.

Thirty years ago, however, some lucky Japanese kids could have purchased a bicycle version of the Yamato. Made by Bridgestone, the bike came with a control panel on the handlebars, a reticle on the windshield, various cool graphics, a rear reflector styled like a rocket engine and, best of all, a wave motion gun headlamp activated with the press of a button. Priced at the time around $200, it's hard to imagine what a good condition version would go for these days on eBay.

With a new live-action movie in the works, maybe we can look forward to a re-release of the bike. A man can dream.

Even today, there's not that much Yamato merch out there, aside from models and figurines. (I have an unassembled Yamato model in its box in my basement, mocking me.) I was mildly surprised, for example, that I couldn't easily find anyone producing a t-shirt of the show's arrow uniform, the kind that an astronaut recently wore into space.

Thirty years ago, however, some lucky Japanese kids could have purchased a bicycle version of the Yamato. Made by Bridgestone, the bike came with a control panel on the handlebars, a reticle on the windshield, various cool graphics, a rear reflector styled like a rocket engine and, best of all, a wave motion gun headlamp activated with the press of a button. Priced at the time around $200, it's hard to imagine what a good condition version would go for these days on eBay.

With a new live-action movie in the works, maybe we can look forward to a re-release of the bike. A man can dream.